The first international symposium on the Malay musical arts of the Riau Islands (also know as Kepri) to be held in Australia has been deemed a success. The Symposium was Hosted by Monash University and attracted more than 100 people to the first afternoon of papers and to the launch of the accompanying exhibition, which included performances of live music and theatre of the Riau Islands.

The Kepri Province was founded in 2004 and the secrets of its artistic culture are only now beginning to be exposed to the world. It is an archipelago in Indonesia, located east of Sumatra along with two islands south of Singapore.

Symposium convenor Professor Margaret Kartomi from the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music said the symposium and exhibition had been a great success.

“We had 22 world experts on the music, body movement and drama of the Riau Islands from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Denmark, United Kingdom, USA, Singapore and Australia presenting cutting-edge papers on their research” said Professor Kartomi. “It was a wonderful response to the first ever symposium that looked at the artistic culture of this part of Indonesia.”

The keynote speaker, Professor Leonard Andaya from the University of Hawaii, presented results of his latest research on the Southern Malay World, of which the Riau Islands Province is part.

Professor Kartomi said a highlight of the symposium and exhibition were the live performances, including the troupe of Riau Island makyong theatre actor-dancers and musicians performing a theatrical episode and a brilliant biola (violin) player who accompanied a female singer’s performance of the famous poem Gurindam Duabelas written in the 1850s by Riau Islands poet Raja Ali Haji.

Professor Kartomi said the accompanying exhibition, which was opened by Indonesian Consul-General Dewi Savitri Wahab, added to the success of the symposium.

“The beauty and distinctiveness of the arts of Java and Bali are well-known around the world, however, Indonesia’s equally beautiful and unique Malay arts from the cradle of Malay-Indonesian civilisation – the Riau Islands/Kepulauan Riau – are yet to be discovered outside the province,” she said.

The curator of the Exhibition of Malay Performing Arts, Bronia Kornhauser, said the exhibition held 250 Malay performing arts objects, including jewellery, costumes, textiles, musical instruments, rare books from the Monash Library, and poster-size colour field photos from Indonesia’s Malay world.

“The exhibition, which was co-presented with the Museum of Indonesian Arts, and its 60-page illustrated catalogue, covered several regions of Indonesia’s Malay world, including coastal Sumatra, South Sumatra, Jambi, Riau, Riau Islands, North Sumatra, West Kalimantan and North-coastal Sulawesi,” Mrs Kornhauser said. “We also included items from the John Noble Bequest to the Music Archive of Monash University.”

The double event was the first to be presented in the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music’s Jubilee year in 2015.

Jake Sturmer, ABC News, wins EU Qantas Journalist Award

Winner of the 2013 EU-Qantas Journalist Award is Jake Sturmer, National Science and Technology Reporter for ABC News, Sydney. Jake’s project is entitled “Moving through the fog: Innovating a way out of Europe’s congestion crisis.”

Jake’s winning proposal was announced on 26 June at the National Press Club by Andrea Nicolaj, First Counsellor of the European Union Delegation.

Mr Nicolaj said “This year’s winner has chosen a subject fundamental to the development of the EU and its single market: transport. The quality and cost of transport services have a major impact on the ability of business to compete, on economic growth and on quality of life. Transport is fundamental to a more efficient European economy. The Award winner will investigate the question of whether Europe will again be able to innovate itself out of a congestion crisis through new technologies.”

“My proposal is to investigate the science and technology options available to the European Union to try to ease the pressure on its roads, railways, airports and waterways” said Jake Sturmer. “This is a particularly relevant issue in Australia, with the consideration of very high speed rail across the east coast and congestion in major cities significantly increasing.”

Mr Sturmer will visit EU headquarters in Brussels as well as a number of European capitals later this year.

Accepting the Award, Jake Sturmer thanked Qantas, the National Press Club and the European Union Delegation for making this award possible.

The EU-Qantas Journalist Award began in 1992 and is conducted by the Delegation of the European Union in Canberra in conjunction with the National Press Club.

Qantas has, since the Award’s inception 21 years ago, sponsored the Award with a business-class return airfare to Europe. The Award consists of a three-week study tour of EU institutions and up to three Member States.

“The Award was introduced back in 1992 and is one of the initiatives the European Union Delegation undertakes to help create a better understanding in Australia of EU affairs. We aim to give Australian journalists first hand experience in covering European issues.” said Andrea Nicolaj.